The Heart Broke In

by James Meek (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)

To whom does one answer in a world that is post-God, that might even be post-love? For Richie, a philandering pop star turned television producer, the rule is simple: don’t get caught. A former bandmate is a gene therapist who reveres the natural order, and Richie’s sister, a malaria researcher, faces scrutiny for adhering to her own private ethical code. The narrative ranges from destitute Tanzanian villages to the Golden Gate Bridge, but the bulk of the story takes place among the chattering, moneyed classes of London, where power resides more with those who write the headlines than with those who make them. Meek’s short, punchy chapters and light touch buoy even the heaviest subjects, though the busy plot exhausts itself with unnecessary twists. This entertaining, vastly intelligent novel is most successful when its characters are allowed to slow down, and to think. ♦

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